CBC Marketplace News of Canada in an article and video footage that you can see here, last week alleged that Canadian funeral services provider Arbor Memorial made misleading statements to hidden camera reporters.  The article maintains that it is a follow up to a 2017 hidden camera report which caused the Bereavement Authority of Ontario to introduce new protections outlawing some of the behavior that was then documented in the industry.

One of the things the current hidden camera episode exposed was that, according to the article, sales personnel refused to sell the cheapest casket shown in the selection room to a family requesting a service and then cremation.  According to the article, the salesperson was quoted as saying, “It’s not for visitation. . . not for your funeral service.”

Carey Smith, registrar of the Bereavement Authority of Ontario, commented on that situation, “I’m disappointed. . . We’ve had assurances that this sort of conduct won’t happen.”

In a statement in the article attributed to Arbor Memorial.  They commented that they have “openly embraced and adopted industry-wide changes” and significantly enhanced training programs” over the past year.  They also commented that it is a “top priority to listen to our families” and customer experience surveys indicate that over 90% of their client families are “very satisfied”.

Funeral Director Daily take:  Time in a selection room with a family is about 20 minutes of the 30 or more “personnel hours” it takes to conduct a funeral service.  However, it is the result of that 20 minutes that greatly determines the profit piece of that individual funeral.  I find that ironic and somewhat bad business practices.  Because of that self-imposed pressure, it is also where funeral homes can get in trouble by being too aggressive in their sales tactics.

It is my opinion that funeral homes should be more confident in their services, facilities, knowledge, and their ability to move families from a grief situation to a road to recovery.  If they were more confident in this aspect of what they do, they could charge more for the services and rely less on the profit of caskets and vaults.  Abraham Lincoln, a lawyer before being a president, said “A lawyer’s time and advice are his stock in trade.”

Quite frankly, a funeral home’s “care giving ability” is its stock in trade.  If you don’t believe that, then you don’t have confidence in yourself and what you are able to do for those families that seek you out at the death of a loved one.

Back in 1991 I, with some encouragement from employees, moved our pricing model to one that charged a true cost of our business with a built in profit all rolled into the professional service charges.  We then moved our selection room to one that charged only the wholesale cost of a casket to the family and all vaults, from grave liner to bronze, had the same dollar value margin regardless of which vault was selected.  This move necessitated an upward price of over $2000 (about a 100% increase at the time) to the service charge and was done with some trepidation, but a belief that people came to us to solve “death of loved one issues” and not to buy a casket.  In that 20 minute selection room process with families, we became “grief release advocates” and not sales people because no profit motive was involved.

I was warned by experts in the industry that this would not work and one leading funeral business consultant told me later, “He thought I was crazy”.  The end result was that we built market share, greatly increased our profits, and really got to help families solve the issues pressing pertaining to the death and services of their loved one.  With some small tweaks, we continue to use this pricing method today.  Oh, and that leading funeral consultant. . . . he continues to tell me that “you were ahead of your time”.

So, I guess that the moral of this story is . . . higher casket sales is not the only way to grow and prosper the financial results of your funeral home.  Don’t be afraid to have confidence in what you do for the people you serve.  You do wonderful things for them. . . . give yourself some credit. . .and profit for that.

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